Commemorative head of an Oba (King), of cast brass/bronze, hollow with open crown, with coral bead headdress and necklet West Africa, Nigeria, Edo State, Benin, 16th century
WEST AFRICA. SOUTHERN NIGERIA. BENIN. BRONZES. HEAD OF A YOUNG SS. Bronze, life-size, circular hole in the top, cap and necklace of beadwork. Obtained at capture of Benin City, Midwestern State, West Africa, February 1897. Curator note, June 2006: Male head. Wider World Gallery Label Text, 2001: Memorial Head. Nigeria. Benin. Sixteenth Century. Cast brass head wearing coral beads. The hole in the top is designed for the insertion of a carved elephant's tusk. Brass heads and tusks stood on the ancestral altars of the oba, or king, within the palace courtyard at Benin. The roll collar may indicate that this is a queen.